The most suitable milk for babies should be breast milk, but some babies cannot be breastfed because of their own or mother’s health problems, they need to replace it with milk powder. At present, the milk powder on the market belongs to the “formula milk powder” formulated by scientific and technological methods, that is, milk is used as raw material, and some materials are added or extracted.
Food can prevent or treat diseases. The characteristics of functional food are to maintain health, regulate abnormal physiological state to make it return to normal and prevent and treat diseases. But all kinds of food must be applied to appropriate objects to achieve the desired effect.
Formula milk powder is a kind of food developed and manufactured by science and technology. There are about the following kinds:
1. Infant milk powder
At present, infant milk powder is mostly made of cow’s milk as the basic raw material, trying to imitate the ingredients of human breast milk. Generally speaking, baby milk powder will not have the worry of nutritional deficiency until one year old. However, there are no enzymes and immune proteins in milk powder that can help digestion.
2. Milk powder for premature infants
Preterm infant milk powder is a kind of milk powder formulated to meet the special needs of premature infants, such as immature gastrointestinal digestion and absorption ability, requiring more calories and special nutrients to complete individual growth. It is characterized by easy digestion and absorption and high calories (20% more than infant milk powder). However, it is not limited to premature infants. As long as it meets the needs of the baby and the permission of the pediatrician, it can be eaten by the baby.
3. Allergy-free milk powder
The allergen-free milk powder mainly removes the substances easy to cause gastrointestinal allergic reactions in milk powder. This formula contains no lactose. This formula is designed for infants born without lactase and infants with chronic diarrhea (diarrhea leads to the loss of lactase on the surface of intestinal mucosa). When the baby has diarrhea, it can directly change into this formula, and then gradually change back to the normal formula after the improvement of diarrhea.
4. Immune milk powder
Immune milk powder is a functional milk powder developed by biotechnology, which is composed of active physiological factors, special antibodies and milk nutrients. Medical research has pointed out that immune milk powder has the effect of enhancing the body’s immunity and resistance. Therefore, as long as it is determined that the baby will not be allergic to such products and recommended by the pediatrician, it can be used with the daily diet.
5. Growing milk powder
Growing up milk powder is designed for older babies over six months. Its nutritional content is higher than that of infant formula, and its protein content is also higher. Because infants at this stage have begun to accept other non-staple foods and the scope of nutrition absorption has expanded, it is not necessarily necessary to change to growing milk powder.
6. High protein milk powder
It is suitable for patients in the recovery period after the operation, because the recovery of tissues in the body needs more proteins to form new cells and structures; some patients with kidney disease need additional proteins to supplement because the proteins are lost in the urine for a long time. However, this kind of milk powder is not suitable for patients with serious liver disease, because it is easy to cause disease deterioration.
7. High iron milk powder
Iron helps to make heme and improve anemia. It can be used as needed by premature infants, patients after operation and patients with anemia.
In addition, there are low-fat milk powder, high calcium milk powder, acidified milk powder, etc. each has its own special ingredients and use indications, which should be evaluated and approved by the pediatrician before it can be used by the baby.
